![]() ![]() Here is a neat photo history of a deer through its life - starting as a spike and turning into a very nice mature deer. I figured that spike was born late, the genetics were good so we had to give him a chance. They were 5 years old this last hunting season and the four small ones were shot, they all scored 170+. After the first year we could no longer tell which one was the spike. The first fawns made for 11 bucks, one was a spike. My brother cleared all of the deer from his place before he HFed it (that was a tough job), then he brought in bred does and breeder bucks to start his herd. I don't think he should be shot as a spike for the sin of having a late birthday. ![]() He'll be a 12 point main frame and score ~170 when he's killed in a year or two. He was born in October/november so he wasn't as mature his first year as deer born in June and July. Re: Once a Spike always a Spike? True or false? There are so many biological and environmental factors that could lead to a 1.5 old deer being a spike it's just not worth killing them. Looks more like they developed a hypothesis and set out to prove it rather than do everything they could to disprove it and allow it to establish on its own if it were fact or not. The Devil's in the details and the field was most definitely not level in the Kerr study. There were only 2 spikes in that study and if you look at the numbers at 4.5 or 5.5 the two spikes are two of the biggest antlered bucks in the study. There are numerous study's in the Kerr publication and one of the other studies involved feeding different percentages of protien to deer over a 4 or 5 year period. Thank you BoBo! Most hunters could not tell you who Big Charlie is much less the fact his father and maternal grand father were known deer with large racks and bodies and that every single forked horn deer in the spike study came from Big Charie, and let's not forget he was a 160" deer at 3.5. Note there was no middle group where the cross breed between two control groups. Great study that showed a 170" 210 lb STX buck will throw bigger off spring then a hill country a percentage of overall B&C score. They took a hill country spike and Line breed the spike to only the spikes off spring. Note that TPWD took a south Texas breeder buck and line breed it to only the breeders bucks offspring. One study determined that yearling spikes had an average of 6.4 points on their antlers at 4 ½-years of age while yearlings that had six points produced racks with an average of 10.1 points when they reached 4 ½. It found spike deer, in both captive and wild population samples, have lower body weights on average and grow smaller antlers at older ages. In one, researchers at the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Kerr Management Area research facility determined that spike bucks are indeed inferior to branch-antlered yearlings. Last couple of years we had a 3 point roaming the place, but the neighbors got him. ![]() ![]() Maybe he'll have a rack this year and I won't know it's him. The meat was like chewing a boot.Īnd the spike (prob 4 years old or so) on our place has spikes about 12 inches long, or at least he had. He was skin and bones, but was man enough to still be working the rut. He had twisted spikes about 6 inches long. He slowly got up and I slipped my Marlin into place and popped him. Crawled out of the woods, being super careful, and crawled into a ditch, raised his head and surveyed the area. Just when things got real dim, here came a buck, crawling on his belly. Just at dark shoes started slipping out of the woods into the bean field stubble. That afternoon, in a cold drizzle, I huddled under an old USMC poncho that had stuck to my hands some years prior. Nobody had ever hunted this area - that we were aware of. Cuz and I put up a new stand and drew straws to see who'd hunt it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |